


Dysania's Errormare Week 2018

by BlueDysania



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Anti-Void, Error has issues, Error is Complicated, Errormare Week, M/M, Mentions of Suicide Attempts, Multiverse, Nightmare Loves his Boys, Nightmare is Complicated, Nocturn Boys, Not Ink Friendly, Not a lot though, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suicidal Thoughts, everyone is complicated, mentions of various AUs, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-06 20:49:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15203207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueDysania/pseuds/BlueDysania
Summary: Nightmare finds a way to get Error into his grasp. It's not even dark or creepy. In fact, Nightmare would call it professional and his Nocturn Boys are eager to help. In the end, Error just accepting this is his new reality will be good for everyone.Except maybe Ink.





	1. Mine

**Author's Note:**

> I won't lie, there are inspirational ideas from Harrish6's work 'Healing What Has Been Broken'! It's such a great story, please go read it!

Nightmare sat upon his throne of marble and iron, looking out into the abyss that made up what his boys jokingly called his _room of serious thinking_. The barest glimmer of amusement passed through the darkness that encompassed the entirety of the space he resided in. This space, locked away from his boys, was not just darkness in name but darkness in essence. Within the blackness that roiled if looked upon for too long he saw his namesake. All of the dreams that called to him for attention, spinning terror and fear for the ones they haunted.

How trite, Dream's accusations.

Nightmare did not create nightmares for thrill and for fun. Those constructs were created by the individual monster that dreamed them. Nightmare had a job just as meaningful as his twin's but no one cared when his job was such a harsh one.

A thankless one; and didn't that ring familiar.

Nightmare shifted, the darkness beginning to relieve him of it's hold and he began to actively pull free.

The thought was not an old one, rather it was increasingly at the forefront of his mind. Nightmare had not seen the outlier-code, the self-made demi-god in some time now. That was not unusual but not for the first time did Nightmare wish the other skeleton would sleep once in a while. With such a life that Error lived, certainly there would be nightmares that he could hone in on.

As it was, Nightmare told his boys to be alert and inform him immediately at any sighting of Error.

Nightmare could extend his senses through the abyss and potentially find his twin as he frolicked in the daydreams of others, see if Error was engaging in battle with the Star Sanses again but considering the last confrontation had been less than a week ago, he doubted Error or Ink were eager to stumble across each other again so soon.

As much as Ink crowed his strength and Error's faults, Nightmare had witnessed their battles. Error and Ink were evenly matched; most of the time. The only time Error lost with no hope of victory was when the self-proclaimed Creator brought in his subordinates.

A dirty, underhanded trick. Nightmare wondered what his twin saw in that abomination. At least Error admitted it, wore the title like a suit of armor. All of his boys did. Which only reinforced Nightmare's idea of bringing Error into the fold. His boys, all darling abominations themselves, were his and Error could find his place with them.

That Error would then belong to him as well brought a sweetness to the notion and no small factor in its birth.

Owning Error like he owned his boys would be entirely impossible, Nightmare knew. Dusty, Axe, Cross, and Killer they had been gathered like feral animals and he'd taught them the benefits of submitting to him. He took care of his boys and guarded their lives when in danger of dusting and in return they gave him what he demanded of them whenever he had need of their services.

It was alike to a master and servants when he had the rare chance to explain.

Dream had long stopped giving him lectures on that _one_. Of course, the tentacle whips into walls or trees tended to cut his ranting short.

Despite his demeanor, Nightmare was no _master_.

No, Nightmare thought as his arms and legs became his again, he much preferred his old moniker for all the agony he'd suffered under it. He still had that circlet of cold metal and despite the rejection of his existence, Nightmare was still a prince.

And he could be no master to the Destroyer.

He wanted Error at his side, his and his alone, but not to rule over him. Besides, Error required no care that Nightmare could provide physically. He required no sleep, no food, and as far as anyone in the Multiverse could tell, Error could not die.

There would be no bribe or promises to sway this monster. It would be delicate work.

Nightmare smirked, the teal light spilling through his parted jaws. He had all the time in the world.

And, he had a commonality between them. Nightmare's job might be thankless and looked down upon as cruel but Error shouldered a burden that was unspeakably… terrible.

Nightmare leaned forward, frowning now. What words could describe what Error was required to do for the sake of Multiverse? What that had done to the Destroyer? Nightmare held no illusions. Error was a broken ruin of what he might have been. A normal Sans.

Nightmare was still piecing things together but the damage was obvious if one actually looked for a victim and not a megalomaniac.

Error had no choice and no help in his mission.

A moment of quiet echoed in the darkness and then an unnaturally wide smile stretched across the ink-black surface of his skull.

His ideas began to form, slowly moving puzzle pieces into place and something like triumph surged forth. _Yes_ , that might just work.

A flurry of quick knocks, _Cross_ , on the ironwood door encouraged his final move to stand from the throne he'd been sitting in for the last few hours. He had strictly ordered his boys to never open the door to this room, scared it into them even, but he was always ~~relieved~~ to see the proof of their promise to abide his order.

They were Sanses at their cores and all Sanses were careful with their promises.

 Nightmare glided through the room and emerged through the barrier he'd erected between the abyss and the door. Collecting himself and making sure he had not left a piece of himself behind, he opened it.

The light poured in and Nightmare might swear he could hear the abyss hissing in distaste and his smirk lingered as he stepped out and sealed the door shut behind him. He noted that he had been correct, Cross had been the one to knock and nodded to him.

"Report."

"Killer spotted Error in DanceFell-V28. No sign of destruction yet, but he's been lingering there for a while. Should be any day now."

Nightmare considered what to do with this new information, all the while wondering when his boys began to use Error's method for differentiating between the many copies of AUs Ink created. Variation 28 in particular? He'd sensed no out-of-place terror from any Dancefell nightmares… but perhaps in light of the recent battle Error had been in, he was going for an AU older than normal? Or maybe the Destroyer spotted something growing in it that needed to be snuffed out quickly.

His first guess would be a Gaster. Fell Gasters liked to cause trouble moreso than the others. Nightmare's tentacles raised like hackles. He hated dealing with that… those… things. Their strange omnipotence was unbearable. Nightmare still could not say with confidence whether or not to consider Gaster one monster or many considering that after the fall into the Void… they seemed to _mesh_.

A riddle for another time. For now…

"Go back, take over tailing him." Cross was not bloodthirsty like Dusty or Killer but Nightmare didn't keep him for his ability to kill. Cross was an _exquisite_ scout and spy. The proud beam on the smaller's face meant he knew it as well.

Nightmare would continue to keep tabs on the Destroyer until the time came that he could implement his new plan. Until then, "Send Killer to Horrortale. Axe hasn't checked."

"Yeah… Sugar asked if he could stay home for a while. Old memories spooked him." Cross frowned. "That was week ago, he hasn't talked with Dusty?"

"Dusty was the one who came to me." Though Nightmare had noticed their resident cannibal's absence beforehand. If Axe had not contacted Dusty however…

Cross's expression turned worried, "He forgot again?"

"Perhaps." Or Sugar was indeed frightened about something and Axe would tear apart anyone who tried to keep him from his little brother if that was the case. "… Send Dusty instead."

"Yes, sir!" Cross turned on his heel and sped down the hallway.

Nightmare watched him disappear from sight and then headed the opposite way, toward the kitchen. If Axe had forgotten again, he'd have to prepare a layout of food for Axe to feast on, have some unperishables packed so Axe could hide it around the mansion, and a sack of food for him to take back to his brother.

If he felt the slightest bit content while he did this, he'd never admit it.


	2. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Error is very hard to write but I did my best. Helpful hint at the bottom, but not necessary to read the chapter. :3

Error was becoming more and more convinced that Ink was doing this on purpose. There was no other reason for the sheer amount of bullshit he was currently discovering. Why? Was it to annoy him? Was it funny? ~~Because this wasn't funny, _why was Ink doing this to him_?~~

He'd been in Dancefell-V26 when he noticed it. After another struggle with Ink, he'd been able to destroy Flowerfell-V39 and Flowerfell-V40 before escaping. He didn't even have to trap the kid's Soul. No one wanted to come back in Flowerfell, not any variation. Despite the 'win' in his favor, he had taken a few hard hits from Ink in the process.

Despite the fact that even if Ink dared to enter the Anti-Void, Error would have no problem getting him as close to death as possible with no Soul to extinguish while in his home ~~prison~~ , he decided otherwise. He had no Soul to hang in his strings so he had no reason to return there yet. He would heal just as fast in Dancefell-V26 than in the Anti-Void; and he wouldn't have to listen to the Voices screaming at him either.

Besides, even if Ink didn't find him in the Anti-Void to fight, he would still spit out his curses and accusations and Error had enough for one day.

So, he came to Dancefell-V26.

Error couldn't say what made him do what he did next. Looking for the next AU to put on his list was reasonable in hindsight. Fell AUs tended to stabilize or turn out very, very badly. Error remembers more than a few spitfire Reds and sweet-hearted Cherrys too _broken_ to protest ~~they smiled~~ their destruction.

~~It was too much, too much when the same deviation needed two names!~~

Error poked his head into Dancefell-V27.

Took a moment to consider what he was seeing.

Then took a peek into Dancefell-V28.

They were… exactly the same.

_Exactly_.

Copy and Paste. Copy and Paste. What a cheap trick. What was the point to this? And where does it end?

Error jumped back to Dancefell-V1 and through a series of portals, steps through each one while looking at the Papyrus showing off his moves to his Sans through the trees of the forest. It was like turning the television on and off on the same channel. There was no change. In color, in position, in personality, in clothes, in weather, in time of day, pitch of voice, or any differences whatsoever.

Error now stood in Dancefell-V28 staring at the receding backs of the brothers returning home. He had confirmed that V24 through V28 were all exact copies. He'd even double checked with different areas and monsters in each one. Since that moment, Error had been standing here, feeling curiously numb for all the molten rage he could feel slowly increasing over time.

For all the anger, he found himself frozen in place. The day passed in a blink and he remained undetected as he watched with black sockets at the copy of a copy of a copy **~~OF A COPY~~** continue with its daily routine.

Error had accepted his role. Whether some divine hand had put him in the Anti-Void ~~or twisted and turned his home and killed his friends until it collapsed into becoming it~~ and made him this abomination of monster and glitch, he had seen what was happening and decided he would fix it, he was the only one willing to fix it.

That was when he looked up from endless white and stopped screaming at the Voices who never ceased. Before he knew Ink existed.

Error remembers a vague sense of justice, a goal of retribution that had a clear and distinct end. He looked out, past the Anti-Void and saw the Multiverse and all of it's AUs squished together. The chaos, the color, the noise of them all had been a special kind of agony to bear. He remembers precious little after that only that he had descended into the Multiverse with blue strings at his fingertips and when he looked up again, Souls were hanging all around him.

And he discovered Ink. As well as the structure of the Multiverse. He'd taken Ink's words to heart, just not in the way the Creator meant for them to be taken.

The Multiverse was full of AUs but most of them were imitations, shadows of the originals. Made on the whim of an outlier-code like himself. The crowded space that made up the Multiverse was not _meant_ to be.

They were pointless and stupid and easily discarded. ~~Why did they get to live when his own was gone? Why did Ink make it necessary?~~

The Betas like Underswap ~~Blueberry~~ and Outertale ~~Orbit~~ were acceptable in their number.

And the Alpha was to be protected at all costs.

Error approached the Alpha only once, looked at it, pristine and untouched and _classic_ , and been in awe. The light threw him into darkness and he embraced it. He was a glitch, an abomination, the Destroyer so how was it that he was protecting the Alpha whereas the Protector was bringing it ever closer to destruction.

He vowed he would kill Ink one day. ~~He _tried_ , it was _impossible_.~~ Then afterwards Error would probably lock himself into the Anti-Void since killing himself was quite hopeless. ~~He'd tried that too.~~

Error remembers these things, that long-ago impression in moments like this. When he is stunned and can feel the delicate balance his psyche must maintain teeter back and forth, can acknowledge the fracture exists to begin with. In moments like this he remembers that he had been so naïve and so, so stupid to think the number of AUs were not being helped along by something. Or someone.

Then that part of him that ~~knows~~ just how ~~fucked up he is~~ gracefully bows out and his fingers alight with blue strings. The molten rage bubbles over and dust scatters throughout the air.

He'll stop once he takes the four parodies of creation out of existence ~~why Ink why there is nothing unique here _nothing why_~~ but he won't stop until then.

 

* * *

 

Nightmare arrived at Dancefell-V24 in the middle of Error's work.

After Cross' distress call, Nightmare evacuated him from the crumbling AU and recalled his boys to stay clear of any Dancefells but stay on standby. He would call them if he needed them. Cross' report on Error's rampage was… concerning considering he'd barely started and as far as Cross had seen, the Star Sanses were nowhere in the vicinity.

Attempting to open a portal into Dancefell-V28 caused his magic to whiplash on itself, a faint sound of static present until the shattered magic faded completely. The static told Nightmare that Error had successfully destroyed the AU.

The same attempt on 27-25 resulted in the same outcome.

Nightmare walked steadily through the already cracked and crumbling AU, watching sections starting to fade away. He stopped, fascinated at the fleeting glimpses he caught of strings of numbers in those new spaces.

Those numbers were only seen, as far as he knew, when Error did his _magic_. His smirk widened, a huff of a laugh escaping him. so many questions, so many theories. Error was something to marvel.

Error was currently bombarding New Home with his devastating power and Nightmare would have been content to wait until he'd finished if a startling, and irritatingly bright against the colors of a Fell AU, portal didn't open a fair distance away from him.

Ink, Blueberry, and his twin darted through it. Each wearing a determined, if grim, look on their faces. Nightmare growled under his breath as Ink launched himself at Error, faster than his subordinates and knocked Error to the ground. Though Error quickly recovered from his surprise, high-pitched shriek precluding a web of strings that spiraled toward Ink like spears, Nightmare could already see Blueberry and Dream getting into flanking positions.

Nightmare waved a hand, honing in on his boys and opening portals for each of them to step through. He only needed three, Dusty leading Axe with Cross and Killer emerging from the other two.

He heard weapons sliding free from behind him and he started to walk as he gave his order, "Boys. Let's make sure they play fair. Everyone but Blueberry is fair game," He looked to Cross as he continued, ", take him out of commission, Cross, and take him home."

His tentacles extended as his form melded with darkness around them, gliding faster as his boys kept on his heels.

"Otherwise… have _fun_." He sped up, much faster in this form, and as he grabbed Dream out of the air, he turned his shocked twin to face him. His boys each darted by as he held Dream in place, bringing him closer, "Hello, brother. Don't you know three against one is unfair?"

Error tended to lose when confronted with all three of the Star Sanses.

This time he would win.

They'd make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The struck out sentences are thoughts that Error underneath all the glitching and insanity is thinking. He blocks out what he needs to, to continue to function.
> 
> If you consider the last chapter, Nightmare has a similar situation when feeling positive emotions. His own nature as well as his own mind needs to protect itself, so he reasons with himself.
> 
> I've discovered as I continue writing... neither of my main characters are reliable narrators. -_-'

**Author's Note:**

> Questions, Comments, and Requests at [BlueDysania](http://bluedysania.tumblr.com/).


End file.
